I don’t recall any big fuss smokers made over bars and restaurants that specifically chose to prohibit smoking on their premises before the smoking ban - so why a fuss over an employer deciding of his own volition to ban smoking on his premises? It seems the smokers are afraid they’ll lose their wonderful cancersticks completely…

No, it isn’t. _Don’t even try to go that way_. There is no benefit from smoking. Not a single one. It’s exactly the opposite. Smoking doesn’t calm you down, and endangers everybody (that includes the smoker and the non-smokers).

My first wife died with lung cancer ans she was a passive smoker: her co-workers smoked, back when it was legal and ok/cool to smoke.

I also find amusing when smokers compare themselves with people with diabetes and parents of disabled kids.

I think you’ll find that individuals can choose their religion! as I do not follow my parents religion being a passionate atheist.

And they can also choose self inflicted disabilities such as obesity and don’t give me all that jazz about how people can’t help it as you can’t possibly put on more weight than than the calorific content of what you eat. Obviously that should only affect employment opportunities in a few countries like the US where they don’t have a state health structure and health plans are provided as job benefits, so I figure it should be okay to say no fatties and no chimneys, heck its their company they should be able to employ who they please.

Incidentally I gave up smoking three years ago and for me its been a good thing but I wouldn’t want to force that on others like the anti-smoking Nazi’s around here.

“As an aside.. I recently had to visit a specialist medical practitioner with my daughter. She had a condition which was exacerbated by cigarette smoke. Neither my wife nor I smoke, but other family members do. The Professor we saw said that even if family members smoke outside, when they come in they continue to breathe out very nasty particulates over the rest of the family.”

Stop it, Stop it, how long did it take you to invent that twoddle! There are a lot worse viral pathogens in the air than the smell of smoke on a smokers breath.

My company has a similar policy. It saves our insurance an average of between 30% and 70%.

That saves the company money, and that means we get more in our paychecks.

It comes down to the insurance companies. They’re raising rates faster for smokers than they are for non-smokers, and that eats into cost. Studies basically prove that smokers die at an alarmingly faster rate. Even those who don’t get cancer have secondary problems that kill them and cost money on the way out. Companies don’t want to pay that.. and so they don’t.

I think it’s fantastic.

I have two words for you: Fashion Models.

In fact, consider that almost any professional athletic organization already does this. How many short fat NBA players have you ever see? Yes, employers should discriminate when hiring employees.

@Antonio:
Why does it suck that a person who owns and operates a business can run it as she sees fit?